getmusicbee.com

Support => Tips and Tricks => Topic started by: Gary Young on November 22, 2012, 02:14:31 PM

Title: MusicBee's "hidden" features
Post by: Gary Young on November 22, 2012, 02:14:31 PM
As I noticed and often read, MB comes up with a lot of features which don't seem to be documented or which are not always easy to find.
This thread likes to collect all of those features we stumble upon.  As a look-up for the users here and probably as a base for further help documents.

@Steven: I'm curious if we find out things even you didn't know... :)
Title: Re: MusicBee's "hidden" features
Post by: Gary Young on November 22, 2012, 02:15:32 PM
Library Explorer: Search Box
-----------------------------------
In the Library Explorer you can just start typing and a search box appears. The first node matching your query will be selected. The Button "Next" brings you to the next matching node.
Note that the Library Explorer needs to be focused before typing (clicking the panel-header does NOT set the focus! You have to click somewhere else inside the panel).

(http://i49.tinypic.com/2yjq45y.jpg)
Title: Re: MusicBee's "hidden" features
Post by: Gary Young on November 22, 2012, 02:16:30 PM
Library Explorer: Resize / Maximise
--------------------------------------------
To drag the library explorer up/down you can grab the panel-header wherever you want (You don't have to hit exactly the top of the header, where the resize-cursor appears).

You can also double-click the header to maximise the panel up to the top (and back down again to the recent position).
Title: Re: MusicBee's "hidden" features
Post by: Zak on November 22, 2012, 03:04:16 PM
Sorting Track Detail / Album and Tracks views on multiple columns
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Eg to sort tracks first by artist name, then year of release:

* Click the first column header to sort as normal
* Hold Ctrl when clicking the second and subsequent columns to sort by

MB will show a little number in the header to indicate the sorting order applied:
(http://img1.uploadscreenshot.com/images/orig/11/32610020718-orig.png)
Title: Re: MusicBee's "hidden" features
Post by: redwing on November 22, 2012, 03:24:43 PM
Renaming Tab Header

You can edit tab header by right-clicking it

(http://i.imgur.com/tNuRx.png)
Title: Re: MusicBee's "hidden" features
Post by: redwing on November 22, 2012, 03:29:01 PM
Another "Hidden" Menu

This is what I learned from Inminente

Quote from: lnminente on September 12, 2012, 12:16:06 PM
For people not knowing it, currently it shows a different menu when pressing the bee icon.

(http://i.imgur.com/S1pAs.png)
Title: Re: MusicBee's "hidden" features
Post by: redwing on November 22, 2012, 03:43:12 PM
Total Time > Remaining Time

Player's total time toggles to remaining time upon click on it.
 
(http://i.imgur.com/T1qG0.png)
Title: Re: MusicBee's "hidden" features
Post by: redwing on November 22, 2012, 06:14:52 PM
"Hidden" Artists

(http://i.imgur.com/FNZ3b.png)

If you think all the tags of the picture are empty, you're wrong. The small plus mark next to "artist:" indicates that there is a hidden artist field value, either a single or multiple artists, that is different from what you see now and warns you not to overwrite the field.
Title: Re: MusicBee's "hidden" features
Post by: Zak on November 22, 2012, 06:19:12 PM
Clicking the header above the track details toggles between the details of the currently playing track and selected tracks.

(http://img1.uploadscreenshot.com/images/orig/11/32613173581-orig.png)
Title: Re: MusicBee's "hidden" features
Post by: Zak on November 22, 2012, 06:31:16 PM
If you have the last.fm "Love" button displayed with the player controls:

(http://img1.uploadscreenshot.com/images/orig/11/32613274970-orig.png)
(enabled via Edit > Preferences > Layout > Show last.fm "Love" track button)

holding the Shift key will temporarily turn it into a "Ban" button.

(http://img1.uploadscreenshot.com/images/orig/11/32613303659-orig.png)
Title: Re: MusicBee's "hidden" features
Post by: redwing on November 22, 2012, 06:59:12 PM
Multi-Image Rotation

If you have embedded multiple images in a track, MB rotates each image every 30 seconds on Playing Track panel and the right panel. You can disable it by right-clicking on images on either panel.
Title: Re: MusicBee's "hidden" features
Post by: Bee-liever on November 22, 2012, 09:47:56 PM
Playing Track Quick-Find
----------------------------
Double-Click the Track Title in the player, MB finds it in your library
Title: Re: MusicBee's "hidden" features
Post by: Bee-liever on November 22, 2012, 09:54:15 PM
Mini-Player Fast
-------------------
On the player,  Double-Click the background near the controls, volume or options buttons to quickly change to Mini-Player mode.
Title: Re: MusicBee's "hidden" features
Post by: ma_t14 on November 22, 2012, 11:02:05 PM
Middle-Click to filter
-----------------------

When you middle-click an item in the main view it filters by that item.

e.g. middle click on year "1991" will filter to all tracks from that year /
middle-click on artist "Led Zeppelin" will filter to all tracks by that artist etc.

It works with all fields including "Loved" and "Rating" and also works with headers
Title: Re: MusicBee's "hidden" features
Post by: redwing on November 22, 2012, 11:43:12 PM
Three Player Modes

MB's player has three types of mode - Main, Compact & Mini. To change the layout of player mode, go to Edit> Preferences> Layout(1) for main player and Layout (2) for the rest.
Title: Re: MusicBee's "hidden" features
Post by: Gary Young on November 23, 2012, 07:39:58 AM
Quick open node in new tab
----------------------------------
Middle-Click on a node in the navigation panel opens that node in a new tab (similar to right-clicking a node > Open in New Tab).
Title: Re: MusicBee's "hidden" features
Post by: paq on November 23, 2012, 05:28:08 PM
Pausing the Mini Player (http://getmusicbee.com/forum/index.php?topic=6791.0)
----------------------------
If the Mini Player is docked to the top of your screen (right-click Mini Player > Window Settings > Top) then you can pause/unpause playback by clicking the absolute top of your screen.


Drag-n-drop from artwork and player controls panel (http://getmusicbee.com/forum/index.php?topic=6424.0)
----------------------------
You can drag-n-drop the currently playing track from its artwork or the title shown just above the "seek bar". Drop it in a playlist or somewhere else!


Copy a file when using drag-n-drop to a windows folder
----------------------------
When dragging a file from MusicBee to a folder in windows, the default behavior is moving the file. However, if you hold Alt or Shift at the same time, the file will instead be copied. Maybe not a hidden feature in MB, but helpful nonetheless.


Copy tags and also artwork, rating, play- and skip-count.
----------------------------
The menu action Edit > Copy Tags will copy the tags of the selected files but leave out any artwork, ratings and the number of times the track has been played or skipped. However, you can set up a Hotkey to copy all this including tags from Preferences > Hotkeys > Edit: Copy Tags, Artwork, Play Counters and Rating.


Restarting MuscBee from a hotkey
----------------------------
Say you are making changes to a theater mode and you want to regularly restart MusicBee to see the effects? You can set up a hotkey for restarting MusicBee in Preferences > Hotkeys > General: Restart MusicBee.


Search box tips (http://getmusicbee.com/forum/index.php?topic=1094.msg33099#msg33099)
----------------------------
To include tracks by different artists, one can type in Philter OR Sadistik or "Machinae Supremacy" + "We Are The Ocean" in the search box.
One can also type artist:SoulEye to make sure only the artist field is used when searching.
Title: Re: MusicBee's "hidden" features
Post by: redwing on November 23, 2012, 05:41:31 PM
Shuffle > Auto-DJ

Shuffle button in player control toggles to Shuffle Off > Shuffle On > Auto-DJ.
 
(http://i.imgur.com/it4we.png)


*Note: Many skins that apply bitmap skinning to the player controls panel have not been updated to support "Auto-DJ".  
(moderator edit)
Title: Re: MusicBee's "hidden" features
Post by: ma_t14 on November 23, 2012, 07:41:07 PM
Ctrl+ C/ Ctrl + V Keyboard Shortcuts
--------------------------------------

Within MusicBee's main panel view those shortcuts can be used to copy tags from any track(s) to another.
Ctrl+C inside MusicBee's main panel view and Ctrl+V anywhere outside MusicBee acts as a normal copy/paste operation.
Title: Re: MusicBee's "hidden" features
Post by: Gary Young on November 23, 2012, 08:52:39 PM
A-Z Jump Bar: Enable multi-character searches
------------------------------------------------------------------
Right-click in the A-Z Jump Bar and tick the option to enable that feature.

(http://i47.tinypic.com/16to5y.jpg)

Usually when clicking a letter in the Jump Bar it brings you to the first item which also starts with that letter (the Jump Bar will search in the column by which is currently sorted).

However, with that option enabled, you can click multiple letters one after another to get corresponding results.

For example: When your sorting is by artist, clicking "M", "E", "T", "A", "L" brings you most probably to "Metallica" (instead of only to "Megadeth" by clicking just "M").

But be quick! You only have 3 seconds to hit the next letter - otherwise the selection of previous letters will be reset.
Quite funny for testing your own reaction skills, I found out :)
Title: Re: MusicBee's "hidden" features
Post by: Gary Young on November 26, 2012, 06:02:19 PM
Now Playing Panel: Search Box
--------------------------------------
In the Now Playing Panel you can just start typing and a search box appears. The first track matching your query will be selected. The Button "Next" brings you to the next matching track.
Note that the Now Playing Panel needs to be focused before typing (clicking the panel-header does NOT set the focus! You have to click somewhere else inside the panel).

(http://i48.tinypic.com/1y0mrp.jpg)

The behaviour is exactly the same like described in the initial post "Library Explorer: Search Box"
http://getmusicbee.com/forum/index.php?topic=7974.msg46232#msg46232
Title: Re: MusicBee's "hidden" features
Post by: Alex Lopes on November 27, 2012, 09:30:33 AM
The player follows the letter.

Click anywhere in a letter (must be synchronized), playing music is performed from that point. ;)

(http://i.imgur.com/bVqOB.jpg)
Title: Re: MusicBee's "hidden" features
Post by: paq on November 28, 2012, 10:50:49 PM
Scan monitored folders with a click (http://getmusicbee.com/forum/index.php?topic=5687.0)
--------------------------------------
Hold Ctrl while clicking the refresh button to scan monitored folders for new files. This action is also available as a hotkey: "General: Refresh + Rescan Monitored Folders".
Title: Re: MusicBee's "hidden" features
Post by: Zak on November 29, 2012, 11:27:36 AM
Quote from: paq on November 28, 2012, 10:50:49 PM
Scan monitored folders with a click (http://getmusicbee.com/forum/index.php?topic=5687.0)
--------------------------------------
Hold Ctrl while clicking the refresh button to scan monitored folders for new files. Ctrl+F5 also does this.
Are you sure about the keyboard shortcut? I had to set mine up manually.
Title: Re: MusicBee's "hidden" features
Post by: Gary Young on November 29, 2012, 11:37:18 AM
Quote from: Zak on November 29, 2012, 11:27:36 AM
Quote from: paq on November 28, 2012, 10:50:49 PM
Scan monitored folders with a click (http://getmusicbee.com/forum/index.php?topic=5687.0)
--------------------------------------
Hold Ctrl while clicking the refresh button to scan monitored folders for new files. Ctrl+F5 also does this.
Are you sure about the keyboard shortcut? I had to set mine up manually.
I had a quick look. I've never set up a hotkey for that so I can definitely say that CTRL+F5 comes NOT as a default shortcut. Has to be set manually, like Zak says.
Title: Re: MusicBee's "hidden" features
Post by: paq on November 30, 2012, 05:19:19 AM
Quote from: Zak on November 29, 2012, 11:27:36 AM
Quote from: paq on November 28, 2012, 10:50:49 PM
Scan monitored folders with a click (http://getmusicbee.com/forum/index.php?topic=5687.0)
--------------------------------------
Hold Ctrl while clicking the refresh button to scan monitored folders for new files. Ctrl+F5 also does this.
Are you sure about the keyboard shortcut? I had to set mine up manually.
I simply rephrased what Steven said here: http://getmusicbee.com/forum/index.php?topic=5687.msg32775#msg32775
But as you say, it seems it needs to be set up manually. I can edit my post and once it's done any moderator can remove this following discussion to reduce clutter in this thread.

Edit: I have now edited my post above and it would be nice to see any moderator remove the following related posts that just clutters down this thread, including this one ;)
Title: Re: MusicBee's "hidden" features
Post by: Zak on December 02, 2012, 09:14:54 PM
In the Now Playing list click to the left of the track number to exclude it from playback.
A little minus sign will appear next to tracks that won't be played.
Title: Re: MusicBee's "hidden" features
Post by: paq on December 02, 2012, 11:25:13 PM
The tag <ArtistAndTitle> (http://getmusicbee.com/forum/index.php?topic=8100.msg46940#msg46940)
-------------------
Although not available from any list, <ArtistAndTitle> is a tag that can be used and will show <Artist> - <Title> when the tags are set, otherwise it will show <Filename>
Title: Re: MusicBee's "hidden" features
Post by: redwing on December 03, 2012, 12:11:37 AM
Auto-selection of best quality among duplicates

(http://i50.tinypic.com/oj17wx.png)

If you tick the option for "filter out duplicates..." in the auto-playlist dialogue, the playlist chooses, by default, the best quality file of duplicates. It chooses lossless over lossy, then m4a, and if the rest are of the same format then the highest bitrate file.
Title: Re: MusicBee's "hidden" features
Post by: Bee-liever on December 08, 2012, 09:50:26 PM
right-click on the player bar to bring up "quick search" options for the playing track and to access the extended shuffle settings

(http://i.cubeupload.com/Bir0nq.jpg)
Title: Re: MusicBee's "hidden" features
Post by: Jade Knight on December 10, 2012, 06:08:55 AM
Quote from: paq on December 02, 2012, 11:25:13 PM
The field <ArtistAndTitle> (http://getmusicbee.com/forum/index.php?topic=8100.msg46940#msg46940)
-------------------
Although not available from any list, <ArtistAndTitle> is a field that can be used and will show <Artist> - <Title> when the fields are set, otherwise it will show <Filename>

How does one go about using fields not in the list?  I don't see any way to type in a custom list...
Title: Re: MusicBee's "hidden" features
Post by: redwing on December 10, 2012, 08:20:06 AM
Quote from: Jade Knight on December 10, 2012, 06:08:55 AM
How does one go about using fields not in the list?  I don't see any way to type in a custom list...

You can use a virtual tag (Preferences> Tags(1)> Define new tags). Enter <Artist & Track Title> in formula. And then you can display the virtual field in your main library.
Title: Re: MusicBee's "hidden" features
Post by: redwing on January 03, 2013, 07:31:45 AM
Manual Creation of Synchronized Lyrics

MB allows the user to create synchronized lyrics manually.

1. Open lyrics panel, right click and select "Edit Displayed Lyrics"

(http://i48.tinypic.com/149yq12.png)


2. Play the track and press Ctrl-T to insert a timestamp when appropriate

(http://i50.tinypic.com/2cdz90y.png)


3. When everything is done, don't forget to save the edited lyrics (right-click and select "Save Lyrics into Music File")

(http://i45.tinypic.com/2e2o7zp.png)


4. Lyrics in a floating window offers a more user-friendly editing mode, but all the functions are basically the same as with right/left side panel.

(http://i48.tinypic.com/23j0qbm.png)


5. If pressing Ctrl-T with left hand feels inconvenient, assign a hotkey using "Edit: Hotkey to insert timestamp in synchronized lyrics" under Edit> Preferences> Hotkeys.
Title: Re: MusicBee's "hidden" features
Post by: paq on January 20, 2013, 06:57:07 PM
Search operators (http://getmusicbee.com/forum/index.php?topic=8464.msg49697#msg49697)
-----------------------------------
When using the search box in MusicBee you can do the following:
- Build OR conditions in the text search using the word or or a plus sign (+) Example: billy + david or harry
- Search for phrases: "billy idol"
- Restrict the field used when searching, example:: artist:M83
- Get similar artists, example:: similar:M83
Title: Re: MusicBee's "hidden" features
Post by: redwing on January 21, 2013, 10:46:23 PM
Update audio stream only while preserving all kinds of metadata

MB allows you to replace your music file with another while preserving all tags and metadata of the original including date added, play count, rating, and (auto-)playlists. This feature can be useful when you want to update your music file to better quality or format without altering any metadata of the original.

1. You can choose either a target file (to be replaced) or a source file (to replace with). There's no need to tag the source file before.

2. Right click on the track, select Send To> Folder (Replace)> and choose one of the two replace commands

(http://i.imgur.com/hNa4IEO.png)

3. Choose a target or source file with the file browser, and click on "OK" button of confirmation dialog. Now MB will take care of the rest.

4. Note that the target file will change to the source file's file format. For example, if you replace an MP3 file with a FLAC file, the replaced file will be a FLAC file.

Caution: MB will delete the source file afterwards. If you want to keep the file, restore it immediately from Recycle Bin, or make a copy of it before using it for this purpose.
Title: Re: MusicBee's "hidden" features
Post by: redwing on January 23, 2013, 09:48:47 AM
Locate a track in Playlists

Trying to figure out what playlists a track belongs to? Right-click the track> Search> Locate in Playlist, then you can browse all the (auto-) playlists where the track is included and you can jump to any of them.

(http://i.imgur.com/qGVbwzH.jpg)
Title: Re: MusicBee's "hidden" features
Post by: Gary Young on February 24, 2013, 11:12:10 PM
Location bar*: Type name of a node to jump to that node
---------------------------------------------------------------------
In some aspects it behaves a bit like the URL bar of a browser. You can place the cursor there and type the name of a node to switch to that node. It's not case-sensitive. Wildcards (like "*") are not supported, you'll have to type the full name.

(http://i46.tinypic.com/2dak94l.jpg)

It works for the following nodes:

Music
Bookmarks
Audiobooks
Video
Radio
Inbox
History

But it doesn't work for any other nodes or sub-nodes (Playlists, Internet, Computer, Devices and so on)


*) According to http://www.getmusicbee.com/help/reference/en/Using_MusicBee/#User_Interface this bar is called "Main Panel ToolButton Bar", but I think it refers more to the whole bar, including buttons and so on. So I provisionally took "location bar" to identify the specific part of it.

EDIT: "Adress Box" is the right word for it, as I recently found out.


Title: Re: MusicBee's "hidden" features
Post by: Bee-liever on February 27, 2013, 09:56:02 PM
Other 'Double-Click' Features
----------------------------------------

Double-Click on the Lyrics header in the RH panel to float the Lyrics panel

Double-Click on the Track Information header (RH panel) to expand the Track Information/Lyrics panels and hide Now Playing list

Double-Click on Now Playing (RH panel) to expand the main panel and have a floating Compact Player

Double-Click on Artwork (except in imported Embeded Theater Modes) to bring up full size Artwork in a floating panel
Title: Re: MusicBee's "hidden" features
Post by: SimonBRT on April 01, 2013, 11:56:10 PM
Left-clicking just to the left of the 'Music' icon in the 'Library' section of the left side panel expands/collapses filters.

(Just discovered this by accident - so useful!)
Title: Re: MusicBee's "hidden" features
Post by: Gary Young on April 04, 2013, 10:42:04 PM
Quote from: SimonBRT on April 01, 2013, 11:56:10 PM
Left-clicking just to the left of the 'Music' icon in the 'Library' section of the left side panel expands/collapses filters.

(Just discovered this by accident - so useful!)
Wow, that's cool! Thanks for that one. I only can agree: so useful! :)

To promote it a bit more...

(http://i45.tinypic.com/2ekkuif.jpg)
Title: Re: MusicBee's "hidden" features
Post by: paq on May 06, 2013, 01:03:24 AM
Complete Album (http://getmusicbee.com/forum/index.php?topic=9578.msg56924#msg56924)
---------------------------------------
You can check if the track is from a complete or incomplete album in your library using the tag <Album Complete?>

Read more about how it works here: http://getmusicbee.com/forum/index.php?topic=9578.msg56924#msg56924
Title: Re: MusicBee's "hidden" features
Post by: redwing on May 07, 2013, 10:02:04 PM
Convert ReplayGain values into SoundCheck values

If you are using iPod/iPhone, you can convert MB's ReplayGain values to Apple's SoundCheck values, which would offer more accurate normalized playing volume for your iDevice. For details, consult the following thread:

http://getmusicbee.com/forum/index.php?topic=9600.0
Title: Re: MusicBee's "hidden" features
Post by: VX on June 09, 2013, 10:53:40 AM
When MusicBee is running and an external device (with audio files) is plugged or turned on, it doesn't appear on the left side in the explorer.
To search for files there, you don't have to restart MusicBee before.

Just use Ctrl-F5 keyboard shortcut - that should force a refresh of the devices on the left panel.
Title: Re: MusicBee's "hidden" features
Post by: VX on June 13, 2013, 06:49:54 AM
The question was asked so many times that I decided to put it here as well:

Quote
How can I move multiple files/albums form the Inbox to the Library...?

Just select 'Edit/Select all' when you are in the Inbox and drag'n'drop selected files from the Inbox to the Library.

Alternatively, when you are in the Inbox, choose a file (or use Ctrl+A to select all), right click on your files in the Inbox, then select 'Send To'> 'Music Library'. Done.
Title: Re: MusicBee's "hidden" features
Post by: lnminente on June 26, 2013, 09:08:32 PM
Trackbrowser filtering works from left to right. There is a hidden trick where we can drag and drop the columns to change its order for better fit our needs
Title: Re: MusicBee's "hidden" features
Post by: redwing on August 25, 2013, 04:57:12 PM
Backup library

MB is equipped with a native backup feature that helps users to store in a safe place their settings files and music files in library for a data loss or unexpected system failures.

After clicking on the menu (File> Backup Library), the user needs to choose a source folder and its backup folder for each line before execution.

(http://i.imgur.com/Uwyavoh.png)

It would be a good idea to backup your music, audiobook, video files in addition to the default settings files. The entire MusicBee program folder too could be added to keep copies of album artworks, artist pictures, skins and theater mode views of your collection.

MB's backup is incremental backup, meaning it only updates modified files, plus deleting non-existent files and empty folders and adding new files, instead of completely rewriting everything. Once the first backup is done, therefore, it won't take much time to backup from the second time unless a great portion of the library have been modified. After each backup is done, the content of the backup folders should exactly reflect the current state of each source folder.

Notes:
1. MB library folders and files (playlists, podcasts, library database files, etc.) are not included in the default "MB Settings folder". If you want to backup those too, you have to include them manually.
2. Do not use this feature with existing folders for a test. All files in the target folder that are not present in the source folder will be deleted.
Title: Re: MusicBee's "hidden" features
Post by: musicmafia on January 09, 2014, 11:52:04 PM
Quote from: redwing on November 22, 2012, 11:43:12 PM
Flat layout Player
------------------------
MB's player has two kinds of layout - standard and flat. To activate flat layout that has a simpler look, go to Edit> Preferences> Layout> Player controls panel, and tick "use flat layout," which requires a restart.

looked for this but couldn't find "flat" layout, only some options for classic layout...
Title: Re: MusicBee's "hidden" features
Post by: psychoadept on January 10, 2014, 09:28:05 AM
Quote from: musicmafia on January 09, 2014, 11:52:04 PM
looked for this but couldn't find "flat" layout, only some options for classic layout...

standard and flat are now classic and modern
Title: Re: MusicBee's "hidden" features
Post by: redwing on February 02, 2014, 06:30:33 AM
Quote from: musicmafia on January 09, 2014, 11:52:04 PM
Quote from: redwing on November 22, 2012, 11:43:12 PM
Flat layout Player
------------------------
MB's player has two kinds of layout - standard and flat. To activate flat layout that has a simpler look, go to Edit> Preferences> Layout> Player controls panel, and tick "use flat layout," which requires a restart.

looked for this but couldn't find "flat" layout, only some options for classic layout...

Now the entry was updated.
Title: Re: MusicBee's "hidden" features
Post by: redwing on February 02, 2014, 06:39:46 AM
Create a New Playlist by Drag-n-Drop

You can create a new playlist simply by dragging selected tracks to the header of playlist node in left navigator. You can drag tracks and albums from any layouts of the main panel. This works for dragging a folder from computer node in left navigator and from Windows Explorer outside of MB as well, and, in this case, the new playlist will be named after the folder name.
Title: Re: MusicBee's "hidden" features
Post by: redwing on February 06, 2014, 09:54:36 AM
Filtering Order

MB's equipped with various panels to filter tracks for easier browsing and access to tracks based on your tags. The order of filtering goes from Library filters (left navigator)> Library Explorer> Column Browser> Thumbnail Browser. So when you're using Column Browser, you could use Library Explorer as its first column and Thumbnail Browser as its last column without having to adjust column numbers and sort order of Column Browser.

Note: From v3.0 on, vertical column browser and thumbnail browser are switchable and follow left-to-right filtering order.
Title: Re: MusicBee's "hidden" features
Post by: redwing on February 08, 2014, 06:10:29 PM
Identify tracks with no "Album Artist" value

If there's no Album Artist tag with a track, MB shows Artist value instead for its Album Artist field. If you want to identify tracks with no Album Artist value, create a library filter or auto-playlist with the rule of <"Album Artist" "has no value">. Note that virtual tags won't lend any help for this purpose since <Album Artist> field in virtual tags is immediately filled with <Artist> value when the value is not present.
Title: Re: MusicBee's "hidden" features
Post by: redwing on March 23, 2014, 05:47:32 AM
Remove duplicate entries from a playlist

Often your playlist ends up containing multiple entries of the same file due to manual dragging of multiple files from various sources. Then, right click on the playlist from left navigator and run List> Remove Duplicates command.

(http://i.imgur.com/QjeKK5g.png)

It will remove all duplicate entries from the playlist.
Title: Re: MusicBee's "hidden" features
Post by: redwing on March 26, 2014, 01:05:40 AM
How to adjust synchronized lyrics to be in sync with audio

Often your synced lyrics is out of sync with the audio of your music file since there are various versions available for the same song. In such case you can easily adjust synchronized lyrics timestamp by setting offset value. Adding "[offset:-3000]"(without a quote) at the beginning of the synced lyrics would shift down 3000 milliseconds for all timestamp of the lyrics. Likewise, adding "[offset:+5200]" would shift up 5200 milliseconds for displaying lyrics while MB is playing the track.
Title: Re: MusicBee's "hidden" features
Post by: redwing on March 26, 2014, 07:19:07 PM
Grouping/Genre Category/Genre Icons for Music Explorer & Thumbnail Browser

You can use custom grouping icons for Music Explorer & thumbnail browser using your own pictures. Just copy your image and right-click on an icon and use "Paste Artwork" command.

Quote from: Steven on March 11, 2018, 12:37:32 PM
For the next v3.2 update i have added support for loading icons for: Grouping; Genre and Genre Category in the music explorer filter panel and header. The images should be square and at least 125px in size, but will be cropped to a circle in the header bar

As part of doing this, the custom Artwork location now defaults to:
- [root music folder]\MusicBee\Artwork\Artist Pictures
- [root music folder]\MusicBee\Artwork\Artist Pictures\Thumb
- [root music folder]\MusicBee\Artwork\Grouping Icons
- [root music folder]\MusicBee\Artwork\Soundtrack Pictures

There was support for genre icons in the thumb browser that used to look in [musicbee installation folder]\icons\Genre.
Those icons have been moved to:
- [root music folder]\MusicBee\Artwork\Grouping Icons

The artist and soundtrack folders are only reorganised if you are using default settings and will be reorganised automatically. You can still override the locations for artist pictures and soundtrack pictures in the Tags(1) preferences

Some stock icon sets created or recommended by forum users:
http://getmusicbee.com/forum/index.php?topic=11160.0
http://rornet.com/Music%20Genres.zip
http://www.flickr.com/search/groups/?m=pool&w=908425%40N22&q=rock
http://myssynen.deviantart.com/art/Music-genre-images-71751056
Title: Re: MusicBee's "hidden" features
Post by: Moshi_ on April 21, 2014, 10:54:14 PM
Thanks for the last one, redwing!! It's really what I needed!!
Title: Re: MusicBee's "hidden" features
Post by: Pingaware on May 04, 2014, 11:11:26 PM
Quote from: redwing on May 04, 2014, 08:25:26 PM
Quote from: Pingaware on May 04, 2014, 05:54:30 PM
Mini Player Shortcut

To quickly switch to the mini player, double click very close to the edges of the main player bar. This should immediately turn the mini-player on.

It's already posted in Reply #12.

I thought it might be! Just didn't bother to check. Ah well, I'll delete it then. Thanks for letting me know redwing.
Title: Re: MusicBee's "hidden" features
Post by: psychoadept on May 31, 2014, 03:46:52 AM
Even if Google is disabled in Artwork search, you can still click on Google in the artwork search window and see up to 15 images.  It will apply your minimum size filter, so you can force it to only find high res images.
Title: Re: MusicBee's "hidden" features
Post by: redwing on June 11, 2014, 12:55:51 AM
Quickly Preview Multiple Tracks

Track Previewer plugin (http://getmusicbee.com/forum/index.php?topic=12997.0) allows you to only play the starting portion and/or the ending portion of multiple tracks. With this, you can briefly browse new albums before listening to the whole tracks or check audio quality of newly converted tracks. Also, this can be used to auto-retrieve and save artwork and lyrics for new tracks.
Title: Re: MusicBee's "hidden" features
Post by: redwing on June 12, 2014, 02:28:11 AM
Remove Dead Links in Playlist

If certain tracks in a static playlist no longer exist in the library, MB displays them as dead links with blue exclamation mark. You can remove all those dead links in the playlist by right click on the playlist> List> Remove dead links.

(http://i.imgur.com/UvC1uq4.png)
Title: Re: MusicBee's "hidden" features
Post by: redwing on June 12, 2014, 02:45:36 AM
Remove Unmarked Dead Links in the Library

If you delete music files with MB closed, MB database could have discrepancies with your actual music files. In that case, MB won't correctly mark those non-existent tracks as dead links until you attempt to play or edit them. There are several ways to resolve this issue.

(1) Tick "on startup check for updated or missing files" option under Preferences> Library
(2) Add your music files folder to the monitored folders setting under Preferences> Library
(3) Run Tools> Advanced> Rescan All Files command to update database
Title: Re: MusicBee's "hidden" features
Post by: redwing on June 25, 2014, 02:43:46 PM
Filtering to tracks having a specific kind of lyrics

MB's unique Lyrics? field displays the current lyrics tag status of each track. The field uses the following entries:

- Y [synched] (Having synchronized lyrics)
- Y [unsynched] (Having unsynchronized lyrics)
- Y [synched/unsynched] (Having both kinds of lyrics)
- N [no lyrics]  (When marked as having no lyrics)
- also the field can be blank (Neither having any lyrics nor being marked as having no lyrics)

Using this field, you can filter to tracks with a specific kind of lyrics with filters/auto-playlists/highlighting rules.

For instance, you can filter to tracks with synchronized lyrics using the following rule:
Code
Lyrics? contains [s

For tracks only with unsynchronized lyrics:
Code
Lyrics? contains u & Lyrics? does not contain [s
Title: Re: MusicBee's "hidden" features
Post by: redwing on July 30, 2014, 09:27:24 AM
Movie backdrops for Soundtrack music

MB can show you movie backdrops while you're listening to soundtrack music. Basically it detects soundtrack files from "genre" field, gets the movie title from "album" field, and searches in the user's specified local folder and then the web for pictures associated with the movie. For details, consult this guide: http://getmusicbee.com/forum/index.php?topic=13437.0
Title: Re: MusicBee's "hidden" features
Post by: Parallax on August 21, 2014, 08:30:00 PM
Compact Mode: change width of right panel (now playing, lyrics...)
-------------------------------------------------
I never thought about this before, but you can actually change the width of the right panel when i Compact Mode:

If you move your mouse to the left of the panel, at some point it will change into a resizable cursor. If you start dragging left or right, you will resize the panel. Very practical, but impossible to find except by accident :)
Title: Re: MusicBee's "hidden" features
Post by: psychoadept on October 24, 2014, 04:39:01 PM
I just discovered this one:

If you display Sort Artist/Sort Album Artist in the main panel, it shows the inferred values where the Sort tag is blank.  That makes sense enough.  HOWEVER, if you then edit the value displayed in the main panel, even if there was no value entered in Sort tag before, MB leaves the actual tag alone and enters the edited value in the Sort tag for you.

Mind = Blown.
Title: Re: MusicBee's "hidden" features
Post by: redwing on June 01, 2015, 05:58:22 PM
Drag & Drop files with MB

It conforms to the Windows standard behavior:

- Move to the same drive
- Copy to a different drive
- Hold Shift to force move
- Hold Ctrl to force copy
Title: Re: MusicBee's "hidden" features
Post by: jasongnome on July 06, 2016, 03:43:25 PM
In the bottom right corner it tells you how many files you have along with the memory used and total playing time. If you have more than 24 hours of music it gives in in days. Clicking in the days toggle between n.nn days and n days nn:nn (in munutes and seconds).

Mine at the moment is 29d 21:41 which toggles to 29.9 days.
Title: Re: MusicBee's "hidden" features
Post by: redwing on July 25, 2017, 10:20:50 PM
Slow Scroll

If you scroll the mouse wheel with alt key pressed, it slows down the scrolling speed so that you can fine tune the scrolling when you want to navigate to a specific row (supported from v3.1).
Title: Re: MusicBee's "hidden" features
Post by: redwing on July 27, 2017, 06:46:43 PM
Library Folder Browser

If you select "Folders" category for library explorer, you can navigate your tracks in the library using folder tree view. Unlike computer node that behaves just like Windows Explorer, it only shows folders and tracks in your library (supported from v3.1).
Title: Re: MusicBee's "hidden" features
Post by: user73 on September 20, 2017, 08:11:06 PM
Quote from: ma_t14 on November 23, 2012, 07:41:07 PM
Ctrl+ C/ Ctrl + V Keyboard Shortcuts
--------------------------------------

Within MusicBee's main panel view those shortcuts can be used to copy tags from any track(s) to another.
Ctrl+C inside MusicBee's main panel view and Ctrl+V anywhere outside MusicBee acts as a normal copy/paste operation.

Hi
this keyboard shortcut doesn't work anymore.
but i do remember earlier i was able to copy paste from musicbee to explorer and songs were copied to destination but now only see clipboard.txt file being copied.
Can someone plz tell me shortcut keys to copy paste songs from musicbee to external application?I don't want tags to be copied to clipboard but songs.
thx in advance
Title: Re: MusicBee's "hidden" features
Post by: redwing on October 24, 2017, 10:12:36 AM
Date display format

Date display format in MB follows your Windows short date format. It applies to various "year" tags and "date" tags. Thus editing year tag format with tag editor won't change its displayed format within MB.
You could also use virtual tags with $Date function if you want to keep your Windows setting in a different way.
Title: Re: MusicBee's "hidden" features
Post by: redwing on September 12, 2018, 06:31:25 PM
Additional Features of the Mouse Middle Click

Mouse middle click can filter your library to the clicked tag value in the main panel.
Also if you middle click any node from left navigator, it opens the folder in a new tab.
Conversely if you middle click a tab header it closes down the clicked tab.
Title: Re: MusicBee's "hidden" features
Post by: psychoadept on September 23, 2018, 08:06:45 AM
Quote from: redwing on February 08, 2014, 06:10:29 PM
Identify tracks with no "Album Artist" value

If there's no Album Artist tag with a track, MB shows Artist value instead for its Album Artist field. If you want to identify tracks with no Album Artist value, create a library filter or auto-playlist with the rule of <"Album Artist" "has no value">. Note that virtual tags won't lend any help for this purpose since <Album Artist> field in virtual tags is immediately filled with <Artist> value when the value is not present.

This will also work to locate no album artist tracks: $IsNull(<Album Artist>,,<Album Artist>)

(reference: https://getmusicbee.com/forum/index.php?topic=24479.msg146047#msg146047)
Title: Re: MusicBee's "hidden" features
Post by: chrisjj on September 24, 2018, 02:49:54 PM
Quote from: Gary Young on November 22, 2012, 02:15:32 PM
Library Explorer: Search Box
-----------------------------------
In the Library Explorer you can just start typing and a search box appears.

Not here. Is that gone from V3.2.6827?

Quote from: Gary Young on November 22, 2012, 02:15:32 PM
The first node matching your query will be selected.

That works.

Quote from: Gary Young on November 22, 2012, 02:15:32 PM
The Button "Next" brings you to the next matching node.

Again, it is missing.

Any other way to get next match?

Quote from: Gary Young on November 22, 2012, 02:15:32 PM
Note that the Library Explorer needs to be focused before typing

Any way to do that using keyboard? Here, TAB will depart that panel but never arrives on it.

Title: Re: MusicBee's "hidden" features
Post by: frankz on September 24, 2018, 02:58:46 PM
LOL you're replying to a 6 year old post by someone who hasn't logged in since 4 years ago.
Title: Re: MusicBee's "hidden" features
Post by: chrisjj on September 24, 2018, 03:05:10 PM
So? It's the first post in the top stickied tips thread, so I think we're not the only ones who are going to read it! :)
Title: Re: MusicBee's "hidden" features
Post by: redwing on October 08, 2018, 01:47:29 PM
How to add a custom icon to a playlist

Quote from: Steven on October 04, 2018, 06:12:15 PM
playlist icon support was implemented in v3.2

add a 16x16px .png file in the same folder as the playlist, with the same name as the playlist ending in ".Icon.png"
eg.
xxxx.Icon.png

by default playlists are in:
C:\Users\<your id>\Music\MusicBee\Playlists
Title: Re: MusicBee's "hidden" features
Post by: redwing on December 01, 2018, 09:38:22 PM
Custom Views vs. Custom Layouts

(https://i.imgur.com/Cyl6l0d.png)

MB supports two levels of layout customization settings: custom views and custom layouts.
Custom view option shows up if you click on the view button ("Album" in the screenshot) and it only saves the layout of the main panel.
If you want to save the layout and settings of other elements/panels as well, you need to use "custom layouts" and it works per tab. Right click on the tab header ("Music" in the screenshot) and you will see the option. You can combine the two if you want to customize everything as a custom layout remembers which view is used in that layout. You can also pin your favorite tabs with a custom layout/view, not to repeat the setup process every time.
Title: Re: MusicBee's "hidden" features
Post by: psychoadept on April 05, 2019, 07:43:02 PM
Quote from: baciliyatsia on April 05, 2019, 07:05:00 PM
As I noticed and often read, MB comes up with a lot of features which don't seem to be documented or which are not always easy to find.

If that's a concern to you, you should contribute to the wiki! See my signature
Title: Re: MusicBee's "hidden" features
Post by: redwing on April 29, 2019, 05:55:53 PM
How to set a custom Temp folder

You can make MB use a custom temp folder instead of the default Windows Temp folder when your C drive doesn't have enough free space for a task you're about to perform. Add the following with the proper path into MusicBee3Settings.ini file.

Code
<ENV_TempFolder>E:\temp</ENV_TempFolder>
Title: Re: MusicBee's "hidden" features
Post by: hiccup on October 18, 2020, 08:16:32 PM
While discussing appropriate and effective context menu's concerning another panel, and doing some investigating, I just stumbled upon this context menu:

You can right-click a track in the detail panel, and it will present all the weblinks you have setup:

(https://i.imgur.com/b7vobve.png)

I wish I had been aware of this a few years earlier.
(and I hope I will remember this tomorrow)
Title: Re: MusicBee's "hidden" features
Post by: phred on October 18, 2020, 09:30:00 PM
Do you know that the web links can appear in the details panel negating the need to right-click to see them? Select and track (in any view) and click the desired link. Although it appears that the right-click method shows -all- the links while the static list only shows the ones I selected in Track Information Settings dialog.
Title: Re: MusicBee's "hidden" features
Post by: hiccup on October 18, 2020, 09:43:30 PM
Quote from: phred on October 18, 2020, 09:30:00 PM
Do you know that the web links can appear in the details panel negating the need to right-click to see them?

Yes, and I would think that that is how most users use them; create a weblink, and then decide that you want to give a permanent place in the details panel.
But those links will then take up space in that panel, and (in my case) will almost always require scrolling down to access them.
This right-click option makes that I don't need to setup the panel displaying these links at all.
So they are not occupying any space, and I can access them much faster.
Title: Re: MusicBee's "hidden" features
Post by: phred on October 18, 2020, 09:58:05 PM
Quote from: hiccup on October 18, 2020, 09:43:30 PM
But those links will then take up space in that panel, and (in my case) will almost always require scrolling down to access them.
This right-click option makes that I don't need to setup the panel displaying these links at all.
So they are not occupying any space, and I can access them much faster.
Very good point.
Title: Re: MusicBee's "hidden" features
Post by: Pingaware on February 15, 2021, 07:56:09 PM
Toss up between posting here and yet another post in the appreciation thread in general. But I've just been reminded (for the umpteenth time in nearly ten years) how incredible MB is with the "Keep tracks in sequence when shuffling" option under Settings for each individual track. I was used to it working in normal shuffle (and I'm 95% sure in a shuffled auto-DJ too), but I just found out that the setting applies even if you're just adding tracks to the queue and choosing to shuffle the queue itself.

It's a superb feature everyone should know about.

And Steven, you are superb.
Title: Re: MusicBee's "hidden" features
Post by: Mayibongwe on October 25, 2021, 09:46:18 PM
Quote from: redwing on January 03, 2013, 07:31:45 AM
MB allows the user to create synchronized lyrics manually.

This is the 2nd time that an old @Redwing post has helped me discover a MB feature I had no idea existed- the first relating to movie backdrops. It's amazing how I can now do pretty much every music-related task without leaving MB. While it's unfortunate that Redwing is no longer active on this forum, I'm grateful for the contribution he had during his time here.
Title: Re: MusicBee's "hidden" features
Post by: decard on May 24, 2023, 02:30:03 AM
Quote from: Zak on November 22, 2012, 03:04:16 PM
Sorting Track Detail / Album and Tracks views on multiple columns
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Eg to sort tracks first by artist name, then year of release:

* Click the first column header to sort as normal
* Hold Ctrl when clicking the second and subsequent columns to sort by

MB will show a little number in the header to indicate the sorting order applied:
(http://img1.uploadscreenshot.com/images/orig/11/32610020718-orig.png)

excellent tip. will endeavour to remember. actually, i will give it a try out shortly. thanks.